When I am still in my high school years, I have been hearing already from my older sisters about this thing called thesis or research paper. All I know about it then was that it’s simply like a composition or an essay that is just the same with what we used to do in English class, only a longer version. The only thing that I’ve been wondering about was their complaints and comments about research writing. Is research writing a real pain and difficult task do to? Is it the test of everything that you’ve learned in college? Almost eight years have passed, and I am now a fourth year college student. My turn has come to face and experience writing a research paper, and the first thing that came into my mind was a question. Am I ready for this? Yes, I have done research writing during my second year in college, but that was a group thesis and it is not as serious as an undergraduate research paper. This time we are required to write individually, which means doing everything all by yourself. From researching, formulating problems, up to doing a survey and encoding all the data, not to mention the defense part.
Anxiety has been the feeling that dominated the air during WOS 1 class. I knew it would not do any help, but you just can’t help it when you are doing something for the first time. Research writing is one serious thing in college, and having Dr. Cuevas as a professor is another. Having a reputation as a strict and tough professor, hearing those negative things about him from the former students of Dr. Cuevas, my classmates and I have been really careful in everything that we say and do. Especially that I’m one of the officers in the class, so he expects a lot from us. According to him, first impression doesn’t last, well he’s absolutely right about that. At first, I was afraid of him, and it also came in my thought not to enter his class anymore. But I chose to face the challenge, for I know that these things will give me knowledge and train me to work with pressure. And I am glad I did what I had to, because I learned a lot of things from this subject. And by doing so, my anxiety has been replaced with confidence and I became more eager to work with difficult task and pressure.
Anxiety has been the feeling that dominated the air during WOS 1 class. I knew it would not do any help, but you just can’t help it when you are doing something for the first time. Research writing is one serious thing in college, and having Dr. Cuevas as a professor is another. Having a reputation as a strict and tough professor, hearing those negative things about him from the former students of Dr. Cuevas, my classmates and I have been really careful in everything that we say and do. Especially that I’m one of the officers in the class, so he expects a lot from us. According to him, first impression doesn’t last, well he’s absolutely right about that. At first, I was afraid of him, and it also came in my thought not to enter his class anymore. But I chose to face the challenge, for I know that these things will give me knowledge and train me to work with pressure. And I am glad I did what I had to, because I learned a lot of things from this subject. And by doing so, my anxiety has been replaced with confidence and I became more eager to work with difficult task and pressure.
Doing this research is like entering a haunted house. Expect the unexpected, as they say. Well at first, I thought research writing isn’t that hard, but I was wrong. I used to cram with my research writing when Dr. Cuevas told us that the officers would be the first one to defend chapters 1 and 2 of our undergraduate research. Well I have no choice but to prove myself and to Dr. Cuevas that I can make it, even if I don’t have my local and foreign literature yet at that time. I still have three days to work on it, but it hasn’t been that easy. I even went to national library to look for some resources, but unfortunately I didn’t find anything that could support my research. Then I decided to look for resources in the Internet, and this time I got my luck. I had a number of related articles and studies that I could use. But I still need some more, so I tried to search again in the school library, and this time I found some books that I could relate with my topic. After I had enough articles and studies, I immediately went in front of my computer to encode and arrange everything, including my interpretation or the explanation about how these articles support my research topic. I spent three sleepless nights just to finish chapters 1 and 2.
The day came when I have to defend my chapters 1 and 2. Unfortunately, I was told to revise the paradigm of the study before the first two part of my research will be approved. I thought I could now take a break until Dr. Cuevas announced the first batch to defend the whole research paper. I am the second to defend this time, and I only have few days left to finish the research paper. I became really anxious this time and I could really feel the pressure in the air. I tried to compose myself and keep my faith up. I finally finished my research up to the last chapter but still uncertain if I am ready to defend. There are a lot more things to memorize and because WOS 1 is not our only subject, I still have to do other things. Especially that it coincided with Videofest where I was a director. Knowing that I am not that prepared yet when the day of my scheduled defense came, I asked Dr. Cuevas if he could still give me more time to prepare and it was very considerate of him that he allowed me to spend more time memorizing. Until the day came, I do not have anymore excuse this time, so I went in front of the class to defend my research paper, and as expected I was told to stop because Dr. Cuevas saw something wrong with my FCR’s, he said that it needs a revision. At first I felt disappointed, but at the bright side, it would mean that I would have more time to prepare and memorize.
I immediately did some revision with my FCR’s and arranged my research paper again to prepare it ahead of time for editing. And then I allotted enough time for me to memorize the new revisions. When I was about to stand in front of the class, which was during Dr. Cuevas’ class in section C, I received a good news from him, it was that I belong to those chosen to spend practicum in ABS-CBN. It was really overwhelming, and because of that, I seem to be distracted with mixed thoughts and feeling of excitement and being worried and scared to make any mistakes. I knew I did not perform at my best during that defense, but at last got through it. I am done. I am really happy that time, because finally my research was done, and I don’t have anymore burden to carry. Now, I can take a rest and sleep on time. At the same time, I am also excited about my practicum in ABS-CBN. I know it is a privilege because not all students are selected, and being recommended is such a fulfillment. The next thing that I did was polishing my research paper for editing, and to complete all the requirements that should be passed on time for my practicum.
One of the best things about research writing under Dr. Cuevas was that we are thought to work under pressure. We have been asked to do a certain thing with only a limited time. We have no other choice but to follow and do what we have been told because we are concerned about our grades. Of course we really had a hard time and thought negative things about his way of doing things. It seems to be unfair at times when he tells us to finish an assignment to be passed at a specified time, until the day came knowing that he is not going to take it. But because of that, we realized that we only have few things to do and still a lot of time left, which means that we have more time to rest. That’s when we realized that he may have asked us to do so because he wants us to learn to value time, which means we have to maximize time by doing everything that we can. Dr. Cuevas may also seem to be unkind when he talks to us, most of the time he is very critical about the way we speak or think, especially about answering his tricky questions. Realizing those things have shown me that I am now more careful with my words and I have learned how to analyze things first before doing something about it. Answering questions is not merely giving answers but putting logic and sense out of it. These things that may seem weird at first makes a real sense now. And it will surely be a big help for us when we meet new people and work with professionals be it in the field of broadcasting.
One of the most difficult parts in research writing was the printing of documents. Since that I don’t have any printer at home, I have to come to school early to have my documents printed. There were unfortunate times when files from my diskettes have been corrupted. In terms of expenses, it is not really that practical since that it really cost a lot to print a number of pages several times after each revision. On the other hand, I am thankful that I have a computer at home because it really saves a lot of money. Without it, I would still have to rent a computer, which costs about twenty-five to thirty pesos an hour. And also, it is more convenient to encode my research at home. But to sum it up, nothing can compensate with what I have learned from research writing. More than anything else, I have learned to discipline my self in terms of managing time, and following strict rules. I have learned to make the most out of my time, and how to be resourceful and practical.
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